Beef Stew with Cheddar and Dill Biscuits

So what do I make for Sunday supper when I have a 2lb bag of beef cubes staring at me? Well I've been meaning to try out my new meat grinder attachment, but that can wait for another time. We only have some (getting old) celery, and the usual pantry staples onions and potatoes. Stew it is!

My expectations were a bit on the low side - how good could it be with some old onions, 5 day old celery, and frozen beef cubes? And I had to go to the store around the corner to get a cheap bottle of red wine.  Huh.  Turns out it could be probably the best stew I've ever made, plus the best biscuits as well.  No fancy herbs or veggies, no advanced techniques, just basic stew with a real depth of flavour.

Beef stew - celery, potato, onion, and lots of red wine

And what goes well with stew? Biscuits of course!  Let's throw in some cheese and dill this time. They ended up being a big hit - we had 3 each!

Cheese and Dill Biscuits

I'm not a big bread maker, but biscuits are OK. They are pretty easy really, just a matter of not over kneading, and getting the butter in the flour without melting too much. Some people will grate frozen butter, I've had more luck just cutting a stick into small pieces and using a pastry blender.

Cutting a cold stick of butter into little pieces

Mixing the butter into the dough is just a matter of going at it with a pastry blender or fork. It should be loose and crumbly.

Mixing butter pieces into flour

Once you add the milk and start mixing it, the dough will start to come together. It should be pretty dry, but there should be no loose flour in the bottom of the bowl. Finally, rolling it out and cutting rounds of your favourite size. I have a ring that is 2.5" diameter.

Cutting rounds of dough

You can gather the remains and roll it out again to get more rounds.

Next time: I would try turnip and/or carrot just for some variety, and fresh tomatoes instead of canned

Me: 10/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: 7/10

Vietnamese Grilled Beef and Vermicelli

Also known as Bún bò Nam Bộ, this is a delicious dish we often would get somewhere in Chinatown and bring home for supper. The more common type is with grilled pork, but we happened to have beef on hand. As usual, SO had the good idea for this. I started off with the Canadian Living version that SO emailed me, but as usual we didn't have some of the ingredients and/or I didn't like something about the method. But changing things up is how you discover and invent, right? Well, when it works out it is good. 

There is a fair amount of prep involved here, but the cooking part is very quick. Our expectations were fairly low this first time I tried it, but wow it turned out really great. I think the key to this was the marinating of the meat. The sauce, called Nuoc Cham, is also important, but more so for the balance between acidity and the fish sauce. The little carrots you see, pickled or otherwise, I think are more for decoration. Huh, probably wrong there.

Grilled Beef and Vermicelli. The regular portion on the
right, and the slightly deconstructed version for the
fussier little guy in the family.

We didn't end up plating this in an entirely authentic manner; there is no lettuce leaves, no carrot, the beef was fast-fry instead of thicker pork, it was pan fried instead of grilled, etc.  But nonetheless, it was delicious. At least according to me and SO. Not so much according to SSO.

Next Time:  will grill some pork

Me: 10/10
SO: 10.5/10
SSO: 2/10